Glidehouse

Glidehouse is one of the forerunners in contemporary, sleek modular housing. Their Clean Living, Green Living website shows you many examples and plans of what they offer. The Glidehouse is designed around a system that includes a thoughtful organized storage system that runs along one side of the home. Gliding wood doors in front of the storage allow for easy access and the look of a streamlined wood wall.Glide prefab houses include a lot of glass for views of nature and light. The modular manufactured house is designed so that breezes and light are maximized. The modular homes can have either solar panels or wind generators added. The exterior walls feature cedar siding and maintenance free. There are many plan options available depending on where you want to build a modular home and how you live. The manufacturer is Blu Homes in Waltham, MA, and San Francisco, CA. www.bluhomes.com/homes/glidehouse/

Yankee Barn Homes

Yankee Barn Homes is a national custom post and beam company specializing in classic American architecture, including barn-style homes, classic farmhouses, coastal cottages, mountain lodges and lakeside retreats. They design and build highly insulated timber frame homes that are elegant in their simplicity and grace landscapes around the country. Unusual program, their clients have the opportunity to test drive a Yankee Barn Home through their Overnight Stay Program. They work with the clients on their individual tastes, paying special attention to details throughout the design/build process. A typical Yankee Barn Shell Package is produced in the manufacturing facility in 2-3 weeks and raised on the building site in as little as 12-17 days. Pretty dogone fast I'd say for a home of this size. The look and feel of barn architecture, the warmth of antique wood and the strength of timber frame. Authentic post and beam, soaring windows, great floor plans. High style manufactured timber frame homes. Since 1969. Built nationwide. www.yankeebarnhomes.com

Bamboo Living

Modular homes made from bamboo. Lots of plans to chose from or go the custom route. Green building is now not just a dream, but a reality, and with Bamboo Living's standard 20’ widths and a variety of footprints. You can put a Bamboo Living prefab green home just about anywhere. Founder, Jeffree Trudeau graduated from RPI (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute--(the real deal folks !)) in 1977, receiving his Bachelors in Architecture while also studying Feng Shui as a minor (who knew they even offered that there ?). His first eco-community project was the self sufficient intentional community "Griffin Gorge Commons" on 40 acres in the beautiful mountain region of up-state New York. He has done a bunch of 'green' stuff like grow organic food, produced maple syrup, and raised goats. Later Jeffree owned and operated a health food store while designing and building natural homes using stone, log and earthen materials.

In 1994 he was drawn to Maui, where he established an eco-home construction company "Isle Family Builders." It was on Maui where he met architect David Sands, and their collaboration was the beginnings of Bamboo Living. In 1996 they built the first bamboo home in the world that was certified and permitted by local building officials to meet Western codes. Now they have developed their business to thelevel where they can ship a pre-fab bamboo home with fabulous vaulted ceilings and wonderful structural details direct to you. www.bambooliving.com

Form and Forest

Both large and small homes available from this Canadian firm owned by two brothers. Form & Forest offers a range of cabins that have been designed for how you live at the cabin, both inside and out. Generous indoor and outdoor living spaces group the eating, entertaining and relaxing together while offering seclusion for sleeping and quiet reading. The generous decks and large windows are designed into the plans with the full expectation that you will be building your cabin in a pretty fantastic landscape. If you have a piece of vacation property to build a cabin on, Form & Forest will enable you to experience it fully. Form & Forest is the brainchild of Jeff and Ryan Jordan. Aside from being brothers, they also happen to share a dual passion for both great design and weekend escapes to the cabin. . www.formandforest.com

Qube

A UK company offering a "neat as a pin" wood clad cube of extra house for you to use as you please. They've use Western Red Cedar for the external cladding. The Qube is built with structural insulated panels then plasterboarded and skimmed, ready to be painted. The doors are bi-fold aluminium that can be fully opened, bringing the garden into your office. You can order any size, have it one storey or two (two will require planning permission). Or why not have a roof deck with a staircase up from your office? The ceiling can be made from stretch-pvc (cool stuff) and the roof is covered with a single ply membrane. Lead times are just 4-6 weeks from order. The Qube can be a garden shed, an office, art studio, TV or game room, kids play room, work-out gym, sales office or a spot for home based for hair stylists. www.theqube.co.uk

Cellophane House

The "Cellophane House" is five stories tall, with floor-to-ceiling windows, translucent polycarbonate steps embedded with LEDs, and exterior walls made of NextGen SmartWrap, an experimental plastic laminated with photovoltaic cells. Its aluminum frame was cut from off-the-shelf components in Europe, assembled in New Jersey, then snapped together in 16 days on a vacant lot next to the Museum of Modern Art. kierantimberlake.com

Spacebox

A self contained living unit built up with 5 composite panels. Spacebox® is a new and innovative building system and a registered trademark for a light weight prefab building system. This building concept was designed for semi-permanent and permanent solutions in 2003 by Mart de Jong of design office De Vijf in Rotterdam, based in the Netherlands.

They can be stacked up to three units tall using a crane. Each unit complies with the Building Code of The Netherlands and is self sufficient and turn-key delivered with bathroom, kitchen and shower. A large window in the front lets in light. They are well insulated. Because they can be easily stacked or unstacked the Spacebox® system is good for temporary living quarters. Hundreds of Spacebox units are already in use in Europe. Very cool. www.spacebox.nl

Container City

Nexthouse

"Nexthouse", a series of innovative homes designed by Joel Turkel. These homes are manufactured by Empyrean International, whohas over 60 years experience. Designs blend clean detailing and open spaces with abundant natural light to create an uncluttered home that defines a modern lifestyle and a relationship with the environment. NextHouse is designed around a central clear-spanned living, kitchen and dining volume that opens onto a large outdoor living space through the use of a 24-foot accordion door, which is suspended from a gallery space above that also houses an automated insect screen. This company has a tight tie-in with Dwell Magazine. See website.

Modtech

”Modtech” is the exclusive manufacturer of LivingHomes’ Ray Kappe-designed steel-framed modular single-family homes in markets served jointly by the two companies. Living Homes builds homes created by world-class architects, which feature warm, modern design, functional amenities, and great price value.Like most modular homes, these homes include natural, non-toxic and sustainably-derived materials; and they're made in specially equipped factories that ensure unsurpassed quality, lower construction cost and waste, and shorten schedules. The result of all this: healthier, happier homes that have a dramatically smaller ecological footprint than most new homes. www.modtech.com

Summerwood Products

Shown below: Summerwood Products Verana. Summerwood products are available as DIY building plans, or as prefabricated building kits. Summerwood is known for garden sheds and storage shed kits. Stylish garden sheds, storage sheds, gazebos, pool cabanas, cabins, garages, home studios and more. Summerwood offers an endless choice of design solutions for outdoor life. All Summerwood Products are shipped in a convenient prefab format throughout North America and elsewhere They offer charming old fashioned styled out-buildings to complement heritage architecture and also sleek modern outbuildings. With the Urban you can work where you live and live close to your work. All structures are built to meet or exceed rigorous building codes and include a warranty of two years for defects in material and workmanship. www.summerwood.com

MetroCabin

MetroCabin and MaximoCabin, from Andrew Kelly, are both cool small kit cabins from the Cabin Fever website. They call them "Transportable Architecture". They offer a distinctive pre-fab structure whose parts are built in a factory, it is delivered and built on your site. You can use it for a livable getaway cabin, a studio, an extra room, a cabana, or a mountain retreat. The simple and sophisticated design allows it to look appropriate in an urban setting while the quiet strength and sturdy attitude allow it to also be used in a more rugged environment. The Metro Cabin is not a low quality kit, this unique space comes with its walls pre-assembled and all other parts are already precision cut for you. The Metro and Maximo Cabins are built with the highest quality materials. www.cabinfever.us.com

Tiger Sheds, UK

A really, really big selection of value-priced kit sheds, cabin kits, and fun outbuilding kits. This no-nonsense website offers online purchasing of kit cabins and potting sheds, etc... delivered to your door and assembled by two people in 2 to 6 hours. They really have a broad range of sizes of sheds and cool kid's play houses. Be sure to read the FAQ section as that is where all the how-to and common sense info is located. www.tigersheds.com

Flatpak

The Flatpak company has a difficult to use, smart-ass website but useful photos on Flickr. Seems to offer luxury homes ($200 to $300 sq ft) in a modern style in the US and Canada. They say that your prefab home can be constructed in three weeks to three months time. Flatpack is able to built to 3 or 4 stories and can make a home for harsh northern winters. I am sure some readers will misspell the name as "Flatpack", so I asm including it here. www.flatpakhouse.com

Illy's Push-Button House

In Italy the Illy Company has brought forth the push-button house. illy’s innovative Push Button House, designed by noted artist/architect Adam Kalkin, is on display at New York City’s Time Warner Center from November 29 – December 29, 2007.

Originally it was unveiled at the 52nd Venice Biennale in June, 2007, the illy Push Button House is a fully functional and sustainable home built within an industrial shipping container. At the push of a button, the shipping container transforms into a five-room home with kitchen, dining room, bedroom, living room and library.

Illy invites coffee lovers, design enthusiasts and shoppers to visit the Push Button House and enjoy a complimentary cup of coffee while learning more about illy’s commitment to sustainability. (Illy is a coffee company) Illy Push-Button House

Tumbleweed Tiny House Company

Since 1997 Jay Shafer has been living in houses smaller than some people's bathrooms. He called the first of his little hand built houses Tumbleweed. Jay's decision to inhabit just 100 square feet came from some concerns he had about the impact a larger house would have on the environment, and because he just did not want to maintain a lot of unused space. In 2004 he sold Tumbleweed and built the 70 square foot structure he lives in today. He call my new place Weebee or XS House (as in "extra small") and he is offering all of us several models of small homes that the will deliver to us from California for about $2 a mile. If you need more space, you can attach several small modular models together. www.tumbleweedhouses.com

Cusato Cottages

Cusato Cottages has an adorable mini cottage in a New Orleans style. The Katrina Cottage was developed at the Mississippi Renewal Forum, a design get together held in Biloxi, MS and sponsored by the Governor's Commission on Recovery, rebuilding, and renewal. Katrina Cottage I, designed by New Urban Guild member Marianne Cusato, was on display in Orlando at the International Builders' Show. This particular cottage is one of four that Cusato has designed and is one of about forty that will be in the upcoming Katrina Cottages plan book that the Guild is publishing. The Katrina Cottages were originally designed as "FEMA trailers with dignity," intended to be used as temporary housing that is good enough to remain in place as a granny cottage or a home office or workshop after the main house is rebuilt. This housing unit and others like it should sell for around $30,000, and sleeps four. www.cusatocottages.com | www.newurbanguild.com | www.cnu.org

Home Front Homes

A second Katrina Cottage concept is a 610-square-foot home designed by architects Bruce Tolar and Michael LeBatard for Home Front Panalized Construction System. It takes the idea of storm survivability to the next level. Even if it's completely submerged in a flood, you simply remove any furnishings that have absorbed water, hose down the interior, and replace the electrical switches. The panelized cottage is built with panels sandwiching cement boards and polystyrene foam that withstand 140 MPH wind and can be built in seven days. www.homefronthomes.com

Lowe's Katrina Cottage

Lowe's is offering 11 blueprints of "Katrina Cottages", the small homes originally created last year to replace Federal Emergency Management Agency housing in the aftermath of the big storm. Each set of plans costs $700 and building kits for the homes, ranging from 544 to 1,807 square feet, start at $17,000, with all materials delivered on site. Lowe's began offering the plans nationwide on June 28, 2007, when its color circular advertised three plans in artistic renderings. customers in the Gulf Coast have used them as weekend cottages and some developers are making them lakeshore vacation homes. Others are being used as guest houses, or casitas, behind the main house. The small homes are designed to withstand 140 mph wind gusts, include a porch and are reminiscent of early 1900s Gulf Coast cottages. While some say the plans can be made a reality in six weeks, waiting for permits and inspections usually boosts the time into several months. The homes are not weekend projects. These are not designed for a do-it-yourselfer, these are made for a licensed contractor. Although the base materials packages cost anywhere from $17,000 to $36,000, they do not include the foundation, piers, heating and cooling systems, septic or sewer systems, cost of labor, or permits. www.lowes.com

Ikea

IKEA, the innovative Swedish design company, is now making homes in boxes for large scale developments in Europe. They are built in a quality-controlled factory, delivered and assembled in a day. The BoKlok (pronounced Boo Clook) housing concept, a partnership between property company Live Smart @ Home and Swedish furniture giant IKEA. It will offer UK familes a stylish, efficient and affordable housing option. The first BoKlok site in the UK will be in Gateshead. IKEA BoKlok, first pioneered in Scandinavia by furniture giant Ikea and construction firm Skanska - provides space-saving, functional homes offering good quality at a price which enables as many people as possible to afford a comfortable home. The BoKlok flats have a flexible open-plan layout, high ceilings and large windows, giving the apartments a light, airy and contemporary feel. Ikea and Skanska started BoKlok, pronounced ‘Boo Clook’, in the mid-1990s to address the need for affordable properties in Sweden and to provide people with high quality properties at a low price. www.boklok.com

Versadome

The Versadome is a versatile and affordable prefabricated modular building system, It combines the grace of arches and domes found in ancient architecture with the smooth clean forms and details of a yacht. Versadome is modern and sophisticated. It is energy efficient and low-maintenance. www.versadome.com

Living Homes

Living Homes offers a line of homes featuring modern design and green materials. Founded by CEO Steve Glenn, LivingHomes is a premier developer of modern, prefab homes that combine world-class architecture with a commitment to health and sustainable construction. Watch a fun, fun speeded up video of an entire home's installation. First residence in the USA to attain highest rating possible from the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) new pilot, LEED® for Homes...making it the first residential project in the country to attain a Platinum rating and setting a new national standard in sustainable construction. LivingHomes is the first company to make LEED certified, prefab homes available to consumers nationwide. The first line of homes, designed by Ray Kappe, is available for purchase now. LivingHomes include movable walls, modular millwork, and a structural system that allows for the easy addition and reconfiguration of space. www.livinghomes.net

Modern Cabana

Founded in 2004 in San Francisco, California, Modern Cabana is a private, family-owned business that provides its clients with designer, pre-fabricated accessory structures. Founder Nick Damner is a Contractor, tinkerer and avid cyclist who hopes to be the first man to carry his home on the back of his bike. A respected Bay Area Carpenter, Nick has been managing complex commercial and residential building projects for many years. A graduate of the University of Colorado, Boulder, Nick is a licensed contractor in the State of California. Its flagship solution, The Cabana is designed by Casper Mork-Ulnes, an award-winning San Francisco Designer whose work has been published widely. An avid outdoorsman, it has been rumored that the concept for The Cabana originated from Casper’s quest for the ideal fishing cabin. Norwegian born, Casper was raised in Norway, Italy, Scotland, and the US.

In addition to his responsibilities at Modern Cabana, Casper is also Principal of Mork-Ulnes Design, a San Francisco Design firm known for its novel use of materials and designs that are adapted to their environment. www.moderncabana.com

Marmol Radziner Prefab

Marmol Radziner Prefab combines the efficiency of factory-built homes with the benefits of custom residential design. The company is headed up by the design team of Ron Radziner and Leo Marmol. Their green homes are not a kit of parts – they build the prefab modules in their own factory and ship them complete with pre-installed interior and exterior finishes, flooring, appliances, etc. Marmol Radziner Prefab can oversee the entire building process, from design to delivery and installation, so no additional contractor is required. Many of their homes go to difficult but very picturesque sites. Their prefab homes have achieved LEED certification. For long-term sustainability, the module structures are made from recycled steel. The homes use other green materials, including Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs), FSC-certified wood, low VOC Green Seal paint, solar panels, etc. Floor-to-ceiling windows capture natural light, while expansive decks provide shade for passive cooling. Marmol Radziner Prefab specializes in custom floor plans and details to match your site and needs. Five standard models are also available. www.marmolradzinerprefab.com

Modern Modular

Some very innovative architects have partnered with Modern Modular to bring well thought out design and energy efficient, prefabricated construction to a wide audience. Their architecture reflects contemporary tastes, environmental sensitivity and modern technology. The website is well designed and fun to see but designed for a broadband connection. The architects listed include Cartwright Pickard Architects, Collins & Turner, Jones Partners, Adam Kalkin, Glama Kim, Linesync Architecture, and Nottoscale. The Adam Kalkin small pavilion home called the Collector's House located at Shelbourne Museum in Vermont with its very high ceilings has a wonderful indoor-outdoor look to it. A prefab home takes less time to build. This is just one of the many good reason listed on the 'Why' tab on the website. www.modern-modular.com

Living Box Design Competition

A design competition based in Italy for modular house concepts. A good deal of information is available on this site as well as the opportunity to order a DVD with large numbers of modular construction illustrations. www.edilportale.com

The Micro Compact Home

The Micro Compact Home [m-ch] is a lightweight compact dwelling for one or two people. Its small dimensions of 2.6m cube has functioning spaces for sleeping, working / dining, cooking and bathroom make it suitable for everyday use.

Manufactured at the micro compact home production centre in Austria, the m-ch can be delivered throughout Europe with project individual graphics and interior finishes. The micro compact home [m-ch] was first launched in Munich in November 2005 with the development of a case study village sponsored by O2 Germany, which is currently occupied by students of TU Munich. The team of researchers and designers based in London and at the Technical University in Munich developed the m-ch as an answer to an increasing demand for short stay living for students, business people, sports and leisure use and for weekend getaways. The m-ch, now in use and available throughout Europe. Its design has been styled after the classic scale and order of a Japanese tea-house, combined with advanced concepts and technologies. www.microcompacthome.com

EcoSteel

EcoSteel engineers and prefabricates eco-friendly homes nationwide. EcoSteel’s proven process uses hardened steel versus fibrous wood, utilizing pre-engineered, pre-cut, pre-drilled, and pre-marked structural beams and insulated steel wall and roof panels. Prefabrication allows home to be quickly and efficiently assembled on site with little to no construction waste. Working with your architect or one of our partner architects EcoSteel strives to turn your dream home into a reality with minimal impact to the environment. www.EcoSteel.com

Toma House

Toma Houses are prefabricated high-tech buildings shipped and installed world wide. In many instances, a building permit is not required as a Toma House has its own foundation system and can be disassembled and moved quickly. www.tomahouse.com

HIVE Modular Housing

HIVE sells several models of contemporary modular homes with an emphasis on architectural design. Hive homes use a modular construction system, which provides a high level of quality control, minimizes exposure of building materials to the elements, and shortens construction time. Hive has currently two product lines that include a small, medium and large version of the basic model, any of which can be ordered with a flat or pitched roof, with modern or traditional siding and windows and with or without an attached garage. The on-staff architects can work with you to further customize your project for an additional fee. HIVE architects will also work with you to produce a completely custom, one-off design, based on their modular system for a standard architectural fee, usually 15% of construction costs. www.hivemodular.com

LogicalHomes

LogicalHomes, light+space resolved and Packaged Architecture are all a part of this company. I think the website has been under construction for a long time, but I read somewhere in a comment "no wood, no wood waste" so it should be interesting when we can see more from LogicalHomes. www.logicalhomes.com

LoftCube

Fully contained German modular homes designed to be air-lifted by helicoptor and placed on the rooftops of urban buildings. This site is all Flash and Quicktime, music and has good illustrations. www.loftcube.net

IT HOUSE

California architect Alan Kock calls this the "Mini Cooper of Homes", which can be put together in about 8 weeks of Bosch aluminum framing and insulated, double paned glass. Tallman Kock had different designers come up with patterned vinyl skins that they call 'outFITs' to put over some of the glass for a bit of privacy in fab this modular kit home. Wired Magazine called it the "Peel-a-Boo House". You can actually buy this $175,000 kit home online. www.tkithouse.com

The Colorado House

Off-grid homes like the Colorado House by Forsythe-Macallen promise to keep its inhabitants safe and comfortable even after a major storm. A tiny solar-powered house was custom designed. The second floor is an open kitchen, dining and living space. A sleeping loft of recycled and narrowly spaced Douglas fir slats creates a canopy over the dining table/woodstove - a massive, cast-in-place, concrete element which stores passive solar heat and heat radiated from the wood stove which is positioned underneath. The truncated roof peak has a wide glass strip running its length. The sky light goes directly into the main space. The first floor contains a bedroom, a bath and a utility space. http://www.forsythe-macallen.com/

Clever Homes

Clever Homes is both a design and materials supply company for residential building projects, and a full service architectural firm. They use digital design technology and robotics driven manufacturing to create prefab homes that out perform traditionally built houses. Clever Homes uses special building materials, finishes and fixtures to make the most of existing technology. Clever Homes' technology allows each home to be partially built in advance, and then constructed on a custom foundation. The major components of Clever Homes, like walls, roof systems, floors, doors and windows are delivered to your site ready for construction. This modular, prefab manufactured housing earned an EPA Energy Star rating, and their construction technologies allow energy savings of up to 50% over traditional residential home building constructions. The Clever Homes team is made up of experienced and respected architects, engineers, builders, technology experts, and construction specialists. The website shows many nice designs in both contemporary and traditional looking styles. The original, world-renown green, sustainable NowHouse show home. NowHouse showcases a new type of design and building system by Clever Homes, featuring a digital integration showcase by CNET Digital Living. The project is presented by the Affordable Green Development Corporation, a non-profit, dedicated to promoting positive, efficient home building in the community. If you have Land, Financing, Builders Education and a Near-Term intent to build, you can buy a NowHouse of your own. www.CleverHomes.net

Field House

Field House is a re-cast concrete vacation home developed in cooperation with AC Miller concrete. The front side of field house is composed of sliding glass doors which fit into the prefab concrete structure in a fashion identical to the prefab rear wall .The only customized piece of the house is the central core. Conceived as a sculpture inside a pre-fab box , the core divides the living area from the bedrooms and houses all functional components. The house is assembled like a contemporary kit of parts, resulting in substantial cost savings. Design team: Mike Latham, Paul Ochs, Viet Nguyen. Brooklyn, NY, USA. www.artscorporation.com

fabprefab

fabprefab is a web resource dedicated to tracking developments in the realm of "modernist prefab dwellings". They say that modernist prefab is still more of a futuristic idea than a easy to purchase item. Most projects are "in development" and relatively few prefabs are available for immediate purchase. This website has links to many worldwide prefab innovators, architects and designers. They have pulled together a lot of interesting information on prefab modular construction. www.fabprefab.com

Resolution 4 Architecture

Custom Modular Homes from Resolution 4 Architecture. By using existing construction methodologies of prefabrication, they are designing custom modern homes based on a system of modules. This is not cut-rate housing, they provide quite upscale modular homes. Each design incorporates off-the-shelf materials, techniques, and organizational strategies that they have employed in their previous residential work as a small architectural firm in New York City. You can see many examples of their projects online as well as the standard modules that are combined to create the custom look and size home you need. www.re4a.com

LiveModern

LiveModern is all about making modernism affordable. Loaded with ads, scroll down to get to any content. Their website has some info about prefab modern housing. It also has forums, links to blogs, resources and chats. It is a whole community. They are featuring a modern modular home designed for casual indoor-outdoor living that will open to the public in May 2005 at Sunset Magazine's Celebration Weekend in Menlo Park, CA. You can purchase this Sunset Breezehouse Show Home now and move in this summer! www.livemodern.com

WeeHouse

WeeHouse is a company that designs and delivers very small but well thought out prefab modular manufactured houses. Many of these small homes are weekend places or get-away second homes. Studios and small units are available both with and without bathrooms. See their site for illustrations of the modular components. These houses are expanded with additional modules. The prefab modular components come prewired and pre-plumbed so that it is ready to be hooked up and plugged in. Wee House modules can be stacked or attached to create homes of various heights and widths. All modular units may be ordered both with and without overhanging roofs. The manufacturer is Alchemy Architects of St. Paul. www.weehouses.com

LV Home

Rocio Romero is a designer of modern design and prefab architecture. He is the developer and designer of the LV Home, which uses prefabricated techniques to deliver high-end modern architecture and furniture. Prefab construction is more efficient, cost effective and environmentally friendly than traditional construction methods. Basic exterior shell is available from Rocio Romero for LV Home and Fish Camp, and upgrades and added rooms are available for an additional cost. www.rocioromero.com

Colani Rotorhaus

Colani Rotorhaus is a very clever rectangular-shaped, modular, self-contained home with a revolving circular inner unit that contains most of the expected functionality of a real home. www.hanse-haus.de

QUIK HOUSE

The Quik House Kit includes 5 modified containers (3 bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths) and all the glass necessary to enclose a 2,000-square-foot building. The QUIK HOUSE is a prefabricated kit house designed by Adam Kalkin from recycled shipping containers. It has three bedrooms and two and one-half baths in its 2,000 square foot plan. The basic kit costs $76,000 plus shipping. The shell assembles by the end of the week, you will have a fully enclosed building. From start to finish, it should take no longer than three months to complete your house. The Premium House Kit includes the Quik House, stainless steel kitchen, plumbing, HVAC, insulation, wall and electrical packages, dining nook and more. Weird web name ! Adam Kalkin offers many options such as a stainless steel kitchen with appliances and fireplace, a mahogany door package & custom designed carpets. www.architectureandhygiene.com

Kalkin House

Also from Adam Kalkin, the Kalkin House, aka The Collector's House. A 20' x 80' metal building of a type normally used for warehouses is the outer shell of the house. Distinguished interior designer Albert Hadley collaborated on the building's original design. Features include oversized glass garage doors, metal grid balconies, and a two-story outdoor curtain that creates a patio space. It is now a rentable public space in Shelburne Gardens in Vermont. www.shelburnemuseum.org

N55 SPACEFRAME

The N55 SPACEFRAME is a low-cost, movable lightweight construction that can easily be transformed. It is dimensioned as a living unit for 3-4 persons and demands practically no maintenance. The construction can be erected by anybody in a short time. The N55 SPACEFRAME is configured as a truncated tetrahedron with an indoor ground floor of approx. 20 m˜. According to needs and economy, the size and configuration may be changed, and extra floors and rooms may be included: it is easy to add to the construction in stages. On the outside the construction is covered with plates in acid resistant stainless steel, which need no maintenance. Inside planes are covered with moisture-absorbing plaster-fibreboard plates. The floor is made of birch plywood and polycarbonate is used for windows. www.n55.dk

Portable House

Jennifer Siegel is the founder of Office of Mobile Design which makes Portable House prefab modular manufactured portable homes. The prefab modular house sections includes steel deck and ramp, appliances and fixtures, bamboo and Lonseal flooring, cabinetry, finishes, lighting and more. 12' x 40' and 12' x 60' available from OMD of California. The Swell House is a trucked in kit house that runs a bit higher per sq ft than the Portable House, but is highly customizable. www.designmobile.com

Glassic

The Glassic by Breckenridge Finer Living is an unusual mobile home has one whole side made of glass. Coming from a mobile home company, this is no ordinary house trailer. The Glassic costs at least 10 grand more than a normal mobile home, but the customers who buy them say that they would never consider any of the other models, it definitely attracts a different crowd. Some building codes will classify the Glassic as a RV instead of a modular home, so ck first. In some communities, they will be issued a permit if you live in a rural area or on property that you own. You can pick from 3 different floorplans. It can cost as much as 6 grand to transport the Breckenridge Glassic to your property but you just set it on concrete blocks. It looks pretty cool, esp. for a vacation get-a-way. Breckenridge calls the Glassic "The Perfect Cottage". It is designed by Christophen Deam for Breckenridge Park Models. www.breckenridgefinerliving.com Looks like it was discontinued.

Floating Homes

Floating Homes produces unique modular homes were designed originally for a Europe wide competition. They are made in Germany. Several styles available for a space age contemporary look. You can arrange any number of these components homes on floating decks for very creative living spaces with terrific views. This is very very cool... probably not suitable for a hurricane zone like my neighborhood! www.floatinghomes.de

Spacebox USA

Spacebox USA is a system to provide individual units that stack to form a multi-unit residential structure... apartments or condos. The USA company is based in Nevada. Looks like it is discontinued.

Hybrid Seattle

Hybrid Seattle was formed in 2003 as a multi-disciplinary team of creative thinkers in the fields of architecture, art, landscape architecture, history and urban ecology. The team's emphasis is on generating thought-provoking and ecologically sensitive solutions to the present and future urban cultural conditions. The term cargotecture was coined by HyBrid in 2003 to describe any building system built entirely or partially from ISO shipping containers. www.hybridseattle.com

Royal Homes

Royal Homes of Ontario Canada is an international, certified, custom home builder. Royal Homes offers more traditional looking homes that some of the modular building system suppliers. Their homes are constructed indoors by professional craftsman under climate controlled conditions and delivered in parts to your location. The Canadian Standards Association inspects and tests to make sure that your modular home is designed to meet the building code requirements of your community. Unlike some modular building systems or prefab houses, as a custom home builder, Royal Homes provides a wide range of options. Royal Homes has many home designs to choose from. You can select or combine any of the model designs and then customize them to suit your specific needs. You will find floorplans, photos, and more about each house on the website as well as prices. Everyone wants to know who much it costs to build a manufactured house, also called modular house or prefab house. www.royalhomes.com

5 Star Homes

Complete Home Packages or "Shell" Packages Available. You can be your own General Contractor (they show you how, they say), build it yourself, or, have your builder use their package. Use one of their over 50 pre-packaged home plans featuring designs by Donald A. Gardner Architects. Five Star Homes' Energy Star rated structural insulated panel (SIPs) complete home packages include nearly everything you need to build and finish your home. In addition to wall, roof and floor systems to complete the "shell" of the house, their packages include an interior framing package, high-quality Pella brand insulated windows and exterior doors, energy efficient "tankless" hot water heater, roofing with 50-year architectural shingles, solid-wood interior doors, trim and paint packages, sheetrock and more -- such as on-site support and a guaranteed monthly energy bill amount. www.5starhomes.com

Country Heritage Homes

Country Heritage Homes offers pre-engineered designs, full construction blueprints, and all quality materials required to build your home to the lock up stage. Country Heritage Homes is a member of the Dream Homes of America group of companies which has delivered many thousands of homes to satisfied customers in the US, Canada and overseas. Country Heritage Homes home package system offers three Build Options. You choose the Build Option best suited to your situation, depending on your level of involvement and desire to save money:Self build, Assisted Build, or Full Build Various upgrades are available. Cottage style homes and log homes are available. www.countryheritagehomes.com

Pole House Kits

PoleHouses.com is introducing a new product: Prefabricated Modular Pole House Kits, to be priced from as low as $5,000 per Module, FOB. The 'P' POD modules will include all materials necessary to assemble a complete exterior finished Pole House, with 400 square feet of interior space (including a sleeping loft). 'P' PODS are designed to be a quality solution for quick re-housing after natural disasters. Tim Cornell, founder of polehouses.com, has been designing and building pole houses since 1988. Pole house structures use less material than conventional building methods and are faster to erect, thus more cost effective. PoleHouses design is one of the lowest home costs per square foot in the construction industry as well as one of the most energy efficient. According to PoleHouse.com, in their designs, large diameter vertical wood poles are firmly bolted atop reinforced concrete footings to carry the load of the floor and roof. This strong flexible skeletal structure permits all interior and exterior walls to be non-load bearing. Then, girder beams, floor joists and tension ring beams are bolted directly into the notched vertical wood poles to create a structural grid. They design and engineer their pole houses on a modular grid system which lends itself to the efficiencies of post and beam and timber frame construction techniques which they utilize. Due to the notched and bolted interlocking system, exposed structural elements move together as a unit and are better able to resist the adverse effects of hurricanes, typhoons, earthquakes and flooding. The website has extensive photos and ordering information. www.polehouses.comm

Acorn Conversion Project

Acorn Conversion Project is a function of KVA, Kennedy & Violich Architecture. They supposedly offer two sizes of prefab manufactured housing, but the confusing website doesn't make it clear how to obtain information on the subject of their modular housing. www.kvarch.net

Anderson Architects

Anderson Architects has designed and built numerous research prototypes and prefabrication systems creatively exploring new construction technologies and affordable building methods. They are not manufacturers or suppliers of modular or prefabricated buildings, although Anderson Anderson does have certain companies that they have worked with in the past and can recommend or work with in developing building solutions for particular project. www.andersonanderson.com

Amercian Home Sales

For the budget group, firm owner and designer is Nichoel Farris who is a Sustainable Building and Design student at UCDavis, member of the USGreen Building Council and Build it Green. The website claims that their homes are 30-40% more efficient than standard manufactured or site built homes. www.ecomanufacturedhomes.com

MODABODE

MODABODE of Australia has designed the ABODE, a stunning new housing product for the 21st century. An ABODE is modernist, stylish and flexible. Looks like a cool beach house or beach cottage. It should take no more than 12 weeks to move into your ABODE after placing an order with MODABODE. The inherent flexibility of the modular system allows views and sunlight to be controlled. Place a glazed panel to create a sunny dining area, and a solid panel to hide a neighbor's gable wall. The only site works required are simple pad foundations and utility connections. Solar panels and grey water treatment can be incorporated for off-grid sites. And the ABODE can be easily removed, leaving no trace of its existence in the landscape. www.modabode.com.au

SmartShax

Lightweight, environmental huts designed by architect Ken Latona ideally suited to the Australian coastal climate. Particularly suitable for remote, isolated or difficult to build on lots. Generate your own power, compost your own waste, store your own water. Environmentally self sufficient. Remote access for monitoring via cell or satellite phone and web cam. 60 square meters (4 x 15M) 2 bedrooms, toilet, bathroom, kitchen/living room & deck. Plywood skin with plasterboard internal walls and corrugated iron roof. Option to supply solar energy, tanks for water, gas powered stove/fridge, composting toilets and extras may include satellite phone. The option for a "tailor made shax" is available for a personal design fee. the architect, Ken Latona, was asked to create a cheap family cabin option for Victorian National Parks. These manufactured modular homes have the look of little potting sheds with a wall of glass. www.smartshax.com.au

m-house

m-house (pronounced 'mouse') is a beautifully designed and meticulously detailed contemporary house or office that looks a bit like a shoebox. It is entirely manufactured under controlled factory conditions, by a skilled workforce, which guarantees both quality of build and delivery time. m-house arrives in two pieces, each 3m (10' approx) wide, which are then joined together on site, which takes about a day. It comes completely fitted-out and ready for you to move into immediately, and delivery is 12 weeks after order. m-house meets full UK building regulations. The strength of the product lies not only in its design, but also in the opportunity for economical supply from the cheapest and best sources. For latest prices, see their info page. www.m-house.org

Pinc House

Pinc House of Scandinavia offers three cool and different looking models: the Pacific, the Black Barn, and The Sport. The site is not in English, but there is a link for international inquiries. Pinc House is now available in Finland. Even though they are currently focusing on expansion in Scandinavia, they can ship all over the world. If you have a project do not hesitate to contact them. www.pinchouse.com

Top Housing

Top Housing is the leading Scandinavian supplier of permanent pre-engineered buildings with 30 years' worldwide experience in emerging markets. Top Housing sectionalized buildings have been erected worldwide for nearly three decades in more than 40 countries. The Top Housing building systems have been especially developed for civil servants and staff of international companies, stationed abroad and requiring an efficient workplace and high standard living accommodation. www.tophousing.comwww.tophousing.se

DuraVermeer

DuraVermeer is a Dutch innovative, developing company in the construction field that employs over 4,000 peoole. They have designed floating homes that can rise and fall in flooding situatuions. DuraVermeer has designed 36 amphibious houses and 14 floating houses in Maasbommel, in the province of Gelderland, Netherlands.was at www.drijvendestad.nl

The SmallHouse

The SmallHouse by WeberHaus can be ordered in different combinations. It is a very stylish modular wood kit house that is prefabbed offsite. The SmallHouse is designed by Bauart Architekten and now available in Europe. This site is in German, so you might want to use Google's translation tool which does a pretty good job. en.red-dot.org

Topsider Homes

Topsider Homes produces prefabricated packaged home building systems, featuring client-designed spaces of floor-to-ceiling glass, vaulted ceilings and exposed beams. Really nice looking homes of all types. The one above is built in the Bahamas. Shipped worldwide since 1968. www.topsiderhomes.comm

Linwood Custom Cedar Homes

Since 1968, Linwood Custom Cedar Homes has been building kit homes. Vast selection of prefab house designs. www.linwoodhomes.com

Geodesic Dome Homes

Landmark

Landmark's panelized home kits can be customized to your taste. Use standard plans or develop your own. Kit houses for owner builders. Floor plan can be customized to your needs. www.lhlc.com

Fabrik-International Panelized House Kit

Panelized house structure ideal for self-builder and contractor. They say they can panelize any residential or commercial building. www.fabrik-international.com

Modular Construction Home

Modular Construction Homes by The Home Store, building modular homes in New England and the Hudson Valley. National award winner. www.the-homestore.com

Single Hauz

Like an inhabitable billboard, the Single Hauz by Poland's front architects proposes cantilevering domestic living space from a central mast. This might work in areas of low wind... but I am not so sure about the plumbing issues. Front Architects

The National Modular Housing Council

This is the official website of the National Modular Housing Council, the only national organization for industry concerning modular home construction. This organization represents the interests of modular home manufacturers, builders, developers, and lenders. This site provides information on modular housing regulations, legislation, definitions, builder information, and statistics. www.modularcouncil.org

"The Revolution Will be Modular" - The Sydney Morning Herald

"Harper and her environmental engineer husband, Andy Irvine, are passionate about finding better ways to build. [The Danger Island House] is a prototype of a prefabricated building system Harper developed in her work in remote communities..."

The system described in the article uses steel frames described as "picture frames" of regular dimensions which bolt together to form a skeleton. Coverings, windows, doorways and other modules of matching dimensions are then bolted to the skeleton. The entire process is designed to be assembled with little expertise, and as few as two people.

Definitions

Prefab, modular, manufactured and panelized housing are terms that are used pretty loosely to describe various types of home building options that are preassembled to some degree before they are delivered to the site. There is overlap between very low end 'tornado-magnet' trailer housing and very top drawer architecture delivered in modules.

Newer "house-trailers or mobile homes", are much more likely to be called the better sounding term: "manufactured housing". A manufactured home is constructed in a controlled environment. It is built to the Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards (also known as HUD Code). Mobile home is the term used for factory built manufactured housing made prior to the introduction of the HUD Code. Around here in the South, everyday folk still refer to them as "house-trailers" -- code or no code!

Prefab, panelized, and modular are terms that usually refer to upscale housing that can be any combination of pre-engineered home parts that re delivered to the building site ready to be assembled in a quick manner. There is some very creative and high style architecture in some of the latest introductions into the prefab and modular housing arena. A home of this type, when properly installed and maintained, will appreciate the same as the surrounding site-built homes in it's area. If you are buying the home and land together or plan to place the home on land that you already own, financial institutions offer traditional real estate mortgages with similar interest rates.

Manufactured housing is built on a trailer chassis and is considered portable or temporary in nature. Typically constructed from light-weight metal framing, manufactured housing is less durable and less versatile than modular structures. Modular houses are comprised of all the same materials, techniques and standards as site construction, except that the units are assembled in less than a day.

Commercial Modular Building Suppliers

Modtech® is the leading national designer and manufacturer of permanent and portable modular buildings in California, Arizona and Florida. They offer Iguana Green CHPS & LEED Certifiable classrooms, complete school campuses and retail and commercial office buildings. Buildings are available factory direct, and Modtech provides factory direct service. They offer comprehensive design-build services with a sole source contract, which includes all design, modular construction, site work and commissioning of the project. www.modtech.com

Nucor Building Systems is a leading manufacturer of metal building systems offering commercial, industrial and community buildings from 1,000 to one million square feet. Over 500 builders nationwide. www.nucorbuildingsystems.com

Ramtech specializes in factory-built modular construction for interim and permanent public and commercial projects. They are multi-state licensed with concurrent site management capability. www.ramtechmodular.com

McDonald Modular Solutions, serving Michigan, Wisconsin, Indiana and Illinois offers a variety of mobile modular buildings for office, schools, storage. New and used available to buy, rent, or lease. www.mcdonaldmodular.com

Portafab Modular Building Systems has been a manufacturer and designer of pre-engineered modular building systems for constructing in-plant offices, rooms, and pre-assembled buildings for over 25 years. www.portafab.com

PBI Modular Construction manufactures mezzanines and in-plant, exterior, interior and pre-assembled buildings. The structures are available in many facings, including aluminum, steel and stucco. www.panel-built.com